254 Foiir-in-Hand in Britain. 



ing this wonderful expedition, and has so often been 

 succeeded by a day which appeared to excel its famous 

 predecessor, that we are careful now to emphasize the 

 yet ; for indeed we feel that there is no predicting what 

 glories Scotland may have in store for us beyond. 



Our luncheon to-day was taken upon the banks 

 of the Nith ; an exquisitely beautiful spot. There was 

 no repressing our jubilant spirits, and sitting there on 

 the green sward the party burst into song, and one 

 Scotch song followed another. There was a strange 

 stirring of the blood, an exaltation of soul unknown be- 

 fore. The pretty had been left behind, the sublime was 

 upon us. There was a nip in the air unfelt in the more 

 genial climate of the South. The land over which 

 brooded peace and quiet content had been left behind, 

 that of the " mountain and the flood " was here, whisper- 

 ing of its power, swaying us to and fro and bending us 

 to its mysterious will. In the sough of the wind comes 

 the call of the genii to mount to higher heights, that we 

 may exult in the mysteries of the mountain and the glen, 



" The steep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr." 



Even our songs had the wail of the minor key sug- 

 gesting the shadows of human life, eras of storm and 

 strife, of heroic endurance and of noble sacrifice ; the 

 struggle of an overmatched people contending for 

 generations against fearful odds and maintaining through 

 all vicissitudes a distinctively national life. That is 



